Stocks drifted lower this morning as investors digested earnings, particularly the numbers from Apple (AAPL), but stocks found a bottom and even got a bump from the latest read on petroleum inventories.   Surprising draws across all components turned around the price of crude, and in the process, put a spark into equities, too.   But the price of oil is beginning to drift again and the pop in stocks has fizzled.

The Dow is up 50 points to the positive and once again is encountering resistance at the 50-day moving average. The S&P 500 is relatively flat, while the NASDAQ lags just a touch, but has closed the gap up from two days ago. This kind of backing and filling is generally a healthy thing, but we have been sideways for so long that it has become tedious. Market internals are about evenly split between advancers and decliners on tepid overall volume. 

On the economic front, new home sales in September increased 3.1% to 593,000 units compared to August revised sales of 575,000.  Supply remains an issue at 4.8 months.  The median home price increased 1.9% to $313,500. 

Meanwhile, total mortgage application decline 4.1% even though rates dropped.  Refinance applications were also down 2%, while purchasing decreased 7%. Perhaps the recent decline in consumer confidence is weighing on the housing market.